Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them.
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
- Sexual violence
- Animal harm
Log it
Sign in to log this.
Character
Classical in form, earnest, grave and bleak.
- classical in formformally daring
- earnestironic
- gravecomic
- warmbleak
- sparerichly built
Who loves it, who doesn't
25 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Formalists.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is it better than the original?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
“Is Cape Fear emotionally manipulative?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
“Is Sam Bowden the real protagonist?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
Ask the title
A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
No reviews yet.
Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · May 20237/10
"Cady" (Robert De Niro) is released from jail after serving eighteen years for rape. He alights on the doorstep of his erstwhile defending counsel "Bowden" (Nick Nolte) with his cigar and his red sports car and generally starts intimidating the man and his family. Why? Well it turns out that the lawyer had buried some evidence during the trial that may have cast doubt on the voracity of the evidence given by the victim - and so now, "Cady" has revenge in mind. Now I loved the 1962 version of this film - Robert Mitchum is superb - and so I was always a bit sceptical about this remake. No, this honestly isn't a patch on that version, but that's as much to do with it being in colour and with it featuring the really poorly cast Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange. De Niro thrives in his element as the manipulative and genuinely odious character whilst Martin Scorsese allows the tension to increase, the sense of desperation and control to blossom and for a genuine sense of peril to develop. Hats can also go off for a strong effort from Juliette Lewis as the daughter "Danni" - a naive young girl whom "Cady" soon has in his sights. The setting for the denouement is as good as cinema can offer -
Read the whole review on TMDB - Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Jul 20228/10
**A really very good movie, and proof that there are remakes that are really worth it for their quality and good execution.** I've just seen this movie (which I've actually seen on television, but without paying enough attention to a movie I want to write something about) and once again I was very impressed. The truth is that, without wanting to legitimize the practice, which is often taken to exaggeration, there are remakes that manage to justify themselves, not only for the quality they demonstrate, but also for the gift, not to mention, of drawing the public's attention to the older movies. I can give my personal example: it was the contact with some remakes that made me know that there were older films and go looking for them to be able to see them. This film maintains, without significant changes, the story told in the older film, which dates from 1962 and was starred by Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum: very briefly, it is the story of a lawyer who finds himself persecuted and threatened, with his wife and daughter, by a spiteful ex-con who blames him for many years of incarceration. Of course, there are things that change between the two films, and this film has the advantage
Read the whole review on TMDB - Ekyon TMDB · Jun 2012
Meet Max Cady, the most terrific villain role De Niro ever played simply because he successfully portrayed a crook who possesses a very complex personality of being stone-cold, violent, absolutely merciless, also on the other hand quite witty and charismatic to ever lure Danielle Bowden (Juliette Lewis) into his trap when he pretended to be her drama teacher so convincingly. Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear tells the story of a brutal rapist who waited for so long just to be able to avenge his wrath towards Attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) for he believed that Bowden could have done much better in defending for his case. This film is well-told with so many suspense elements through some shocking events throughout the film. Cape Fear is one of the examples of film whose remake, in some ways, considered outwits the original one produced in 1962 starred Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck. This is quite understandable remembering the remake was filmed many years later, with sufficient advancements in technology and financial supports. In Cape Fear, De Niro managed to portray the chilling Max Cady successfully. He had a best-laid plan to avenge his disappointments/hatred towards Bowden by study
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Robert De NiroMax Cady
- Nick NolteSam Bowden
- Jessica LangeLeigh Bowden
- Juliette LewisDanielle Bowden
- Joe Don BakerClaude Kersek
- Robert MitchumLieutenant Elgart
- Gregory PeckLee Heller
- Martin BalsamJudge
- Illeana DouglasLori Davis
- Fred ThompsonTom Broadbent
Crew
- Martin ScorseseDirector
- Wesley StrickScreenplay
- John D. MacDonaldNovel
- Freddie FrancisDirector of Photography
- Bernard HerrmannOriginal Music Composer
- Elmer BernsteinOriginal Music Composer
- Thelma SchoonmakerEditor
- Barbara De FinaProducer
Where to watch
Checking availability…
Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Arlington Road 199978% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
Blue Ruin 201478% alikeBoth grave, classical in form, earnest.
A Simple Plan 199877% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, earnest.
Narc 200277% alikeBoth grave, earnest, classical in form.
Primal Fear 199677% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, earnest.
Luckiest Girl Alive 202277% alikeBoth grave, earnest, contemporary.
...And Justice for All 197977% alikeBoth classical in form, grave, earnest.
The Silence of the Lambs 199176% alikeBoth classical in form, earnest, grave.
Black Bird 202274% alikeTelevision · Both classical in form, earnest, grave.
The Glory 202273% alikeTelevision · Both grave, earnest, classical in form.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
